5 NY Giants who disappointed in the preseason loss to the Lions

3. LB Micah McFadden

Not only was second-year linebacker Micah McFadden disappointing against the Lions, but the Giants' linebacker core in general aside for Dyontae Johnson left much to be desired. Both McFadden and Carter Coughlin made several mistakes against the run and pass and it showed. Fortunately, though, Darrian Beavers did not play a snap, meaning that he will be the likely starter instead of McFadden in the regular season.

While McFadden did look much faster when getting to the ball, he still was missing holes to get in the backfield and looked as bad as ever in coverage. McFadden was never expected to be a ball hawk of any sort. However, in the modern NFL, defenses can't afford to play such a liability in coverage in the middle of the field.

We hope that McFadden can improve as the preseason goes on, but he hasn't shown much promise thus far. He will likely be a good run-stopper for the Giants in due time, but New York already has that in the form of Bobby Okereke. Instead, it will likely be Beavers, who is much better in coverage, starting alongside Okereke.

Due to this poor play, it wouldn't surprise us to see the Giants and Joe Schoen looking for veteran help at linebacker. New York's linebacker depth was already suspect to begin with. However, if both McFadden and Coughlin continue their poor play, we could see the team bring a more experienced 'backer in to take their snaps.